Saad Hamada – Nottingham

January 2018

Pervert in court after going to meet online vigilante he thought was a 12-year-old girl

Online vigilantes caught a pervert after one of them – who looked like a 12-year-old girl -went to meet him.

Egyptian national Saad Hamada, 25, who arrived in the UK on a lorry from Calais in 2016 and is seeking asylum, is now waiting to be sentenced.

Last year he made repeated sexual requests to a “child” he thought he was messaging online and sent her intimate pictures of himself, Nottingham Crown Court heard.

He even arranged to meet her, giving her details of the bus number to get her to his address.

And he told her it was the “fifth stop” from the city centre and gave her the bus stop number, said barrister Alan Murphy.

She indicated she had got off a bus outside a chemist.

He then told her to walk to a bus stop so he could see her.

Another member of the vigilante group – a woman who appeared similar to a girl – walked to the bus stop.

She could see Hamada nearby hiding behind a tree.

When he saw her, he crossed the road and stood within three feet of her, then walked back to his address in Woodborough Road, Nottingham.

The woman from the group followed and soon afterwards the defendant was confronted by other group members monitoring the situation.

“He tried to get away,” Mr Murphy said. “They physically stopped him and he was inside his address when police attended. He was interviewed and answered no comment to all questions.”

At court this week, he pleaded guilty to attempting to incite the child to engage in sexual activity; attempting to cause her to look at an image of people involved in sexual activity; attempting to meet her following sexual grooming.

He further admitted attempting to incite a second 12-year-old girl to engage in sexual activity – who also turned out to be an adult posing as a child online.

And he attempted to cause her to to look at an image of a person involved in sexual activity.

Mr Murphy told the court: “Unbeknown to him neither (girl) existed. They were profiles on the internet of adults posing as children.”

The court heard the defendant’s original claim for asylum is due to be reinstated and dealt with on its merit by the Home Office in the future, so he is effectively in a legal limbo.

Judge James Sampson adjourned for a pre-sentence report, reserving the case to himself, to deal with Hamada, who is in custody, on February 2.